The upper tier of the 100 most “military-friendly” employers this year includes three financial giants and three transportation behemoths, but as U.S. companies measurably boost veteran-hiring rates, they’re “not quite there yet,” said the publisher of the ranking, released Thursday.

“As more employers adopt similar policies, it’s getting more competitive to make this list,” said Sean Collins, vice president of Victory Media, which offers its annual index via militaryfriendly.com. “If you’re looking at the list in an isolated sense, that’s a great thing.”

The top-rated “military-friendly” corporation, reports G.I. Jobs, is San Antonio-based USAA, a financial-services outfit created in 1922 by Army officers as a mutual insurance company for other service members. USAA recently launched an initiative called “Combat to Claims,” training post-9/11 veterans to become claims adjustors.

“The reason the program is working so well is because military folks have such a sense of discipline and order,” said Joe Robles, the CEO of USAA and a retired Army major general.

Other highly ranked “military-friendly” employers include Deloitte (No. 3), General Electric (No. 9) and railroad operators CSX (No. 2) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (No. 5).

Related: Employers step up efforts to recruit, hire veterans

“They are able to weave military into the fabric of their companies, as just a way of doing business,” said Collins, who served as a pilot in the U.S. Navy from 2001 to 2009, reaching the rank of lieutenant.

Meanwhile, just keeping a foothold in the elite G.I. Jobs list is equally challenging. Amazon.com – the No. 1 “military friendly” corporation on the 2011 list — comes in at No. 89 this year, despite hiring 600 veterans since January. T-Mobile, No. 10 in last year’s G.I. Jobs index — now sits at No. 71.

Now in its tenth year, the list is assembled through a survey of companies inside and outside the Fortune 1000, Collins said.  To ensure consistent comparisons and to capture a broad snapshot of the American employment landscape, Victory Media only assesses businesses with annual revenues of at least $500 million. A weighted scoring system then stacks the top 100: “recruiting efforts” compose 35 percent of a company’s overall “military-friendly” grade, followed by factors such as “recruiting results” and “retention.”

G.I. Jobs — which publishes a similar annual breakdown of the best colleges for veterans — recently partnered with Orion International, the nation’s largest military-recruiting firm. Orion, which specializes in finding civilian careers for junior military officers, noncommissioned officers and enlisted technicians, is actively working to help several U.S. companies grab future spots in the coveted top 100.

“We’re trying to build new programs within a lot of companies that have not been in play with hiring a lot of veterans in the past,” said Mike Starich, president of Orion and a former Marine.

Those include Intel, a tech company that has hired more than 500 veterans this year, and electronics and engineering firm Siemens, which has hired more than 1,000 veterans since 2010.

Chocolate king Hershey’s is also “very new to this whole world,” Starich said.

"And it’s not just for altruistic reasons. They have issues that military veterans can definitely help with," he said, citing an aging work force. "This is a well-established company who has enjoyed strong retention within its ranks, who will soon be experiencing a talent crunch as many within their workforce begin to retire. They are seeking a new pipeline of talent."

When compared to out-of-work civilians, veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have had a tougher time finding jobs, posting a collective unemployment rate of 9.7 percent in September — about two points higher than the rest of the country, reports the federal government.

But increasingly, American companies are tuning in to the mass of young talent coming home from war, Collins said.

In 2003, when G.I. Jobs began publishing its top-100 list, the average percentage of new hires who were veterans was 5.8 percent, Collins said. This year, that number was 13.8 percent.

Asked to grade U.S. employers on their overall veteran-hiring practice, Collins said: “I look at it two ways. In regard to their awareness of the benefits of the military community, we’re probably at an A. We’re probably at an all-time high. As far as recruiting (those former service members into U.S. companies), we’re not quite there yet.”

Starich agreed with that grade yet cautioned that veteran-hiring rates can’t be viewed outside the overall sluggish economy.

“If companies can build programs that hire military similar to the way they have programs that hire out of colleges, that would be the way to go,” Starich said. “At this point, I would give them a C (for recruiting veterans into civilian jobs). The reason for that is simply because of their demand, though, and how much the economy feeds new orders and (the companies’) ability to expand. Clearly, they all have to run their own businesses and be profitable.

“The key to getting that grade from C to a B or moving to an A: We definitely need some economic expansion going on. That’s really critical for us,” Starich added. “But there is definitely a positive upswell in veteran interest among the companies.”

More content from NBCNews.com:

• Giffords, Kelly confront Tucson shooter in court
• Record snow, new power outages as storm slams Northeast
• Hail to the chief: Americans eyed in search for Britain's top rabbi
• Gov. Andrew Cuomo fires New York's emergency management chief, official says
• Man admits Election Day burglary of Nancy Pelosi house, cops say

Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

The fourth annual list of “military friendly” colleges – published this week by a veteran-owned company – is as fascinating to peruse to see which schools earn that title as it is for noting which universities are absent.

Using a weighted scoring system and reviews penned by veteran-students – then independently audited by accounting giant Ernst & Young – the 2013 “G.I. Jobs” list includes 1,700 American colleges.

That means about 10,000 schools currently authorized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to accept GI Bill money failed to make the cut.

“Some people are of the opinion that ‘VA approval’ for colleges is a measure of military friendliness. But I would point to the math, from 12,000 schools with VA approval to our 1,700, and assert that we’re able to provide value by offering a list of the schools that have the best leading practices,” said Sean Collins, vice president of Victory Media, publisher of the list.

“The is a premier subset,” added Collins, a U.S. Navy veteran. “We are the answer to the question: ‘What is military friendly?’"

In fact, Victory Media even trademarked the term “military friendly.” Owning the phrase is wise – and perhaps necessary – when numerous universities are stamping themselves “military friendly” in the chase for money from the freshly improved Post-9/11 G.I. Bill – about $9 billion this year to help some 600,000 veterans work toward degrees.

“Unfortunately, whenever government benefits are entered into any market, you get people that move in and try to be opportunistic,” Collins said. “So we want to make sure we are differentiated from anyone who’s new in this space and make sure our resources are world class.”

More military stories from NBCNews.com

• Despite repeal of 'Don't ask, don't tell' many still feel sting
• Medal peddlers: Thriving Purple Heart market has fans and foes
• Military should better address growing alcohol and drug abuse, report says

Victory Media, which calls its list America’s most stringent and transparent inventory of schools catering to veterans, grades the universities on nine criteria, including “military support on campus,” “academic credibility” and the portion of military students enrolled.

Those criteria are assessed through a survey the company makes available to all of the 12,000 VA-approved colleges. This year, about half of those schools opted to complete and send back the free questionnaires, Collins said. And from that group of about 6,000, Victory Media used its assessment methodology to hone its list down to 15 percent of all the VA-approved institutions.

“We keep the threshold at 15 percent because we feel that’s enough schools to give people freedom of choice but also an elite tier,” Collins said. “So if you’re on our ship, you’ve been evaluated by us – and found worthy by a third-party entity,” he added. “If you’re not, I think that says something as well ... There also are bad actors and schools that (sell themselves as veteran-friendly but) return less than the desired return on investment.

"These 1,700 schools raised their hand and committed time and resources necessary for filling out survey. They are stepping forward and participating in our process because they want to be measured and differentiated from what I will call the noise."

The publishers purposely opted not to rank the 1,700 colleges because, Collins said, picking a higher-ed school is an individual choice and should be based on an array of unique factors, such as: does the school offer night classes, weekend sessions, or in-state tuition breaks for veterans? (The online list can be sorted and then personalized). 

Schools that made the list
Who made it for 2013? NBC News randomly checked four major college conferences to analyze which schools earned the “military friendly” designation.

In the Southeastern Conference, 13 schools are included – all but Vanderbilt University.

In the Pac-12 Conference, every member earned a spot, although at Stanford University, only that school’s Center for Professional Development is mentioned.

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

In the Big Ten Conference, 11 universities are on the list; Northwestern University is not.

In the Ivy League, Columbia and Dartmouth made the cut; at Cornell, only the graduate school of management is mentioned; Brown, Harvard, Yale, Penn and Princeton didn’t rate inclusion.

But the publishers acknowledged that data-driven lists alone are somewhat soulless. Victory Media solicits personal reviews from veteran students and incorporates those intimate analyses into its report. (This year, there are about 3,000 student surveys for prospective students to read).

“They’re the exact subset of the student population that service members are looking for,” Collins said. “They give an actual boots-on-the-ground perspective. Nothing touches a personal recommendation.”

One veteran's experience
Air Force veteran Erik Thompson, 34, enrolled last year in the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh after checking out all of the research done by Collins and his colleagues.

“When I decided to return to business school the very first thing I did was visit the G.I. Jobs Military Friendly School list,” said Thompson, who served in Iraq and three other countries. “One of the great things about the site is it allows you to not only access the list, but many schools have students who have created profiles where they talk about their experience as a veteran attending a particular MBA school.

“Having been out of the military for close to six years, the thing I miss the most is the camaraderie,” Thompson said. “Going through basic training, military-career training, deployments, and living all over the world level-sets all military members. No matter where you are from - or your race, religion, or sex - military members all have something in common. The Tepper School of Business does a tremendous job in replicating this camaraderie.”

More content from NBCNews.com:

• For first time, gay marriage may win statewide vote
• From sports shoes to bomb shields: the odd detour of a key U.S. military material
• Pennsylvania couple charged with selling neighbor's dog on Craigslist
• Video: Cops, ‘yarn bombers’ team up to protect art
• Empty chair 'lynchings': Anti-Obama protests gone too far?

Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook